Life Without Love part 1 - Changes

Well dear readers; I am finally satisfied with the first chapter of Act 2; please enjoy!

O Nowhere

The sky is sunny, the ground is cool and plush and the breeze is mild and inviting. A man of rugged perfection in a white button down shirt, sleeves rolled up and top buttons undone, loose black tie and work slacks but barefoot, stands in the middle of what he can only assume is the final reward of the Afterlife.

He whispers "I'm in Heaven"

Bigby lies down on the ground with his hands behind his head and his eyes half open; taking in the sheer peacefulness of his surroundings. Someone lays down next to him in the same way however and the one voice Bigby didn't want to hear ever again spoke bluntly "No; you're not"

The ground suddenly turned hard, the breeze stopped altogether and the surrounding area became dull and misty; Bigby slowly stood up and looked around for whoever was speaking to him. He turned around several times before seeing Nick in his human form standing in front of him grinning.

"You!" Bigby charged at Nick, but the Devil simply waved his hand up and Bigby stopped dead in his tracks before becoming suspended in the air. Nick mockingly waved his finger side-to-side "You're in my world now Wolfie and don't you forget it"

Bigby tried to struggle against his invisible restraints but couldn't move a muscle; he was helpless and alone...

"Where am I?" Nick smiled and brought Bigby's feet back down to the ground.

"You are basically in Purgatory my friend; I couldn't break you to my will whilst you were alive so I ripped your soul out of your body and now you are stuck here until you submit to me!"

Bigby narrowed his gaze "So I'm dead then..."

Nick chuckled "No; you're not dead, but you're not alive either..."

This just confused Bigby even more "I don't understand..."

Nick huffed exasperatedly and pulled up a lavish red velvet chair out of nothing and slumped into it with his leg crossed over his knee, Bigby remained standing.

"Then I'll explain! Look; the soul is required to give life to a body, but if you take a soul from a living body then said body becomes a shell waiting to be filled again... that's what I did to you. If you returned to your body at any point you would come back to life and everyone'll be happy-cheery again."

Bigby then frantically thought of every possible way to get out of this situation "So where's my body?"

Nick smirked and waved his hand outwards, he and Bigby were now standing amongst the crowd at his funeral during Snow's eulogy; both men were also wearing their respective trench coats.

"Wha- Snow? Snow I'm here; Snow!" Bigby yelled out but no one heard him; no one seemed to know he was there and he passed through everyone like a ghost.

"You're 'dead' you idiot; this is your funeral and it's only been 3 days since you 'died'" Nick put a hand on his shoulder but Bigby shrugged it off and ran up to Snow and desperately tried to touch her, failing every time.

"Stop it! Stop it!" Bigby yelled at Nick as he ran back and went to punch him; Nick simply grabbed his fist and turned his head to make him watch the scene play out, tightly gripping his chin as he twisted his arm behind his back.

"This is your punishment for not listening to me in the first place whelp" Bigby watched the scene up until Snow said her final goodbyes; he heard every word and became teary eyed for the first time since he could remember as a stray tear rolled down his cheek and dropped to the floor.

Both men instantly became confused by the sudden arrival of the North Wind; who appeared to stare at Nick more so than Bigby after saying his peace to the grave.

The two men suddenly appeared back in the room that they were in before and Nick seemed to be in denial at what Mr North had just done.

"That was... unexpected" Bigby saw Nick falter and had to crack a smile "Someone not as powerful as they think they are?"

Nick marched up to Bigby and broke his nose with his boot; sending Bigby to the ground "You aren't in a position to mock me, Wolf!"

With that Nick disappeared in a flash of black and blue smoke and Bigby was alone again.

O The Woodland's cells, the day of the funeral

Nick would swiftly move back to his cell if ever someone came down to check on him and see if he was still there; every time he would grin and wave his fingers mockingly at them and most of the time they would look at him with murderous intent or even spit on him.

When he was alone he would move back to Mary's cell and cuddle with her on the bed, she was tiny compared to him but both Fables respected each other's power and size made no difference.

"So what do you plan on doing with Bigby?" Mary looked up at Nick's face; he had his eyes closed and was smiling happily as he rested against the wall with his hands behind his head as Mary traced the outlines of his muscles through his t-shirt.

He looked down at her and teased the skin of her back through her torn shirt "I'm gonna break him"

Mary nodded and smiled before closing her eyes and resting her head against Nick's chest, feeling it rise and fall as he breathed slowly and calmly.

Nick closed his eyes and fell asleep almost instantly; Nick didn't sleep because when he did he would become transported into his little realm where he could harass and torture his stolen souls until they broke to his will. His newest victim was Bigby Wolf and it would be a long time before he would break to Nick's will.

O 2 Weeks after the Funeral

Snow was sitting on her sofa watching something pointless on the TV; it was close to 10pm now and she had no desire to fall asleep. Since Bigby's death nothing had been the same and she hadn't stopped wearing the snowflake necklace he gave her, she would rub it from time to time whenever she felt desperately lonely but it would only calm her for a short while.

In memory of him, Snow had his name tag had been replaced with a permanent listing on the wall directory in the lobby and the Security Office still said B. Wolf on the door; she had put off appointing a new Sheriff officially as she couldn't bear the thought of working with someone who wasn't Bigby.

She missed him so much.

She missed the unmistakable stench of cigarettes whenever he was near, the slight smell of bourbon and tobacco on his breath when he spoke close enough to her, the warmth he radiated when he embraced her, the way his rough hands sent shivers down her spine and made her knees weak when he touched her with such gentle grace, the feel of his rough, dry lips as he kissed her in a way that Charming never knew, and she craved the love that he had held for her for so long...

Snow wiped a stray tear away at her thoughts; she still had to play the no-nonsense ice queen when she was working however, it wouldn't help for her to be reduced to a sobbing mess when she had an entire community to run.

But the absence didn't just affect Snow it seemed.

The amount of crime in the town had been reduced significantly and everyone seemed to be in a more depressive mood at not seeing the Wolf in Man's clothing walking through the streets every day, smoking heavily, eyeing them up and looking intimidating as usual. Change wasn't something Fabletown was used to and it seemed that the loss of Bigby was a change that no one wanted to accept.

What was worse was how Bigby's killer was still alive!

2 days after the funeral; Nick was brought to the Witching Well chamber to be put on trial for crimes relating to the Crooked Man and of course Bigby's murder. It quickly transpired that sentencing Nick was no easy task: he would break out of the restraints and begin harassing the present Fables about his 'accomplishment'; he'd even attack those that insulted him or provoked him enough.

It was too dangerous to put him on trial and the Witches weren't having an easy time figuring out how to harm or restrain him effectively either as his magic was vastly more powerful than their own.

It was settled that he remain imprisoned until a solution was found, but Nick refused to let anyone take Mary away from him for her own sentencing and thus they both shared a cell and lived off of the community taxes as prisoners.

Snow clenched her fist tightly at how everything had gone so wrong when Nick came into the picture; she wanted to murder him in the most violent ways possible and throw his corpse down the Witching Well herself...

A knock was heard at the door and Snow sighed heavily as she lifted herself from the couch and turned off the TV; she was still in her blouse and skirt and her hair was down.

She opened the door to a less than pleasant sight; it was Prince Charming.

"What do you want?" Snow made no attempt at hiding her annoyance as she stared at the impossibly cute and well dressed man in front of her; he smelled faintly of women's perfume so he had obviously been with someone recently.

"I just wanted to make sure you were doing ok, darling" Charming always liked to annoy Snow by referring to her in ways that would remind them of their failed marriage, usually Snow would respond mockingly by calling him something similar though right now she wasn't in the mood.

"I'm fine, Charming" Snow crossed her arms and pulled a stern look as if to say 'just go away'.

Charming lent against the doorframe and smirked upon seeing the necklace "Come now Snow bunny; you've been more and more reclusive recently, why don't you tell me what's on your mind?"

Snow continued to stare at him and Charming stood up straight again and stepped forward a little, Snow didn't budge but sighed in defeat regardless "I don't care what you do, just don't try anything stupid". With that she let him in.

Charming instantly sat down on her sofa and Snow offered him a glass of wine.

"Now dear, what's bothering you?" Charming smiled and Snow leaned back against the sofa before speaking "I thought I could look after myself and be perfectly ok alone, but now Bigby's gone and nothing makes sense to me anymore"

Charming's smile seemed to fade a little when she finished, he had learned of Snow and Bigby's relationship just before the funeral but didn't attend it as he was still in Europe at the time.

"Well dear, that might be because he didn't betray you like everyone else has; but unfortunately he's gone now and you will need to step up to the plate once more before someone else steps up instead" Charming seemed to be grinning now.

Snow looked at Charming intently "Excuse me? What do you mean by 'step up to the plate'?"

Charming leaned back "I mean that Mayor Cole might have to hire a new Deputy Mayor if his current one can't do the job properly because her dream died before it could begin"

Snow wanted to hit him "How dare you! You have no right to tell me that I can't do my job because I'm still grieving; yes I still miss Bigby but in time I will come to accept that truth and live with it"

Charming didn't seem convinced at all "And how long will that take, hmm? Days, weeks, months, maybe even years?"

What he was saying held some truth, Snow didn't know how long she would grieve over Bigby, she would miss him for the rest of her life that much was certain, but how long would it be before she could go a whole 24 hours without shedding a tear or waking up in a cold sweat...

Snow was so lost in her thoughts she didn't notice Charming leaning closer to her "What are you doing?"

Charming was inches away now and he slowly moved a hand to the back of Snow's head, he whispered softly "Fixing your broken heart" Then he pressed his lips to hers.

Snow closed her eyes as she made contact and was overwhelmed by the familiar feeling of a man's lips against her own, the way they washed her pain away and made everything seem ok again... but this wasn't what Snow wanted and she remembered a little too late that she wasn't kissing her beloved Wolf.

Snow pulled away hastily before the kiss could deepen and slapped Charming hard; he recoiled in surprise "Ow!"

Snow slapped him again but a little harder and Charming yelped and stood up from the sofa, backing away as an angry Snow marched towards him.

"Snow-"

"Shut up and get out! If you try and do that ever again I'll cut your tongue out!" Snow was absolutely furious; Charming quickly left the apartment and Snow closed the door and collapsed against it sobbing, holding her arms tightly and trying not to think of her lost love. She felt as though she had done to Bigby what Charming had done to her centuries ago: she had betrayed him.

O Nowhere

"Well isn't that a shame, I thought it was gonna go somewhere..." Nick brought Bigby back into his realm after the pair had watched the scene between Snow and Charming play out. Bigby hadn't eaten anything or slept at all since he got there; he was suffering from phantom cravings and although he felt completely exhausted, sleep would never find him. After seeing what Snow and Charming had done, Bigby was overwhelmed with both sadness and anger.

"When I get out of here I'm gonna serve your heart up to her myself" Bigby's voice was strained and weak due to his loneliness from everything but his anger was evident nonetheless.

Nick just laughed as he circled Bigby "You can't get out Wolf; I've already told you that"

Bigby had given up on struggling against the raw power of the Devil before him; Nick would always win a fight and Bigby would suffer pain beyond belief as a result. But he wouldn't give in to the creature's will; never.

"Anything else you want to see?" Nick stopped in front of Bigby and lifted up the Wolf's chin to stare into his eyes.

"Just fuck off and leave me alone" Bigby was looking at Nick, but rather trying to look through him.

Nick huffed and disappeared; Bigby collapsed to floor and curled up on the ground, he wished for some company and for once he wished as hard as he could for it. Then something amazing happened.

Bigby slowly stood up at the sound of footsteps and turned around to see Snow staring back at him smiling. He sprinted to her but went straight through and tumbled to the ground, she turned to him and spoke softly "This isn't his world Bigby, you need to find a way out" She disappeared into nothing and Bigby almost cried at her sudden departure. Then another set of footsteps followed by a hand on his shoulder "How are you doing in here, Wolf?"

Bigby turned around to see a large man standing before him; he had long black hair and dead grey skin, he had muscle but it was horribly enhanced by the severe lack of body fat he possessed, his eyes were dark red and he spoke with a highly pronounced accent that sounded like a mix of British and American. He was wearing torn up robes that were almost black in colour and had layers of bone covering certain parts of his body like armour.

"Who are you?" Bigby would never admit it, but the mere sight of this thing scared him a little.

"My name is Death"

Bigby felt relaxed upon hearing the name "You were one of the 4 Horsemen weren't you?"

Death nodded "Yes; I sacrificed myself so that the Harbinger could not reap his havoc upon the Homelands and the Mundane worlds as he pleased."

Bigby needed to know "How did you stop him the first time?"

Death bowed his head a little "We didn't stop him, we simply discovered a way to control him. You see, when you possess the power of Death itself, you have to think of every possibility, both likely and impossible, that could be achieved with such power. I was the oldest and wisest of my brothers and because of this, it was deemed that I possessed the wisdom and clarity needed to be able to wield such power without becoming a Great Destroyer"

"When the Harbinger killed War; I realised too late that I wouldn't be able to stop him by myself without sending the Universe into absolute chaos; even though he possesses the souls of me and my brothers and uses our powers as he pleases, 'Nick' as he calls himself, can never control the 4 Horsemen completely. We are constantly fighting for release from his captivity, but only I can release them..."

Bigby spoke "So why don't you?"

Death shook his head a little and chuckled quietly "Because when I sacrificed myself to reduce the Harbinger to a mere spirit, I allowed myself to be captured by Nick, therefore I am reduced to a wandering spirit in this realm that can talk to those who enter it, like you, but cannot do anything else. You haven't yet succumbed to him, so you still possess enough power to escape."

Despite Death's words, Bigby was still losing what hope he had left "Is there a way to stop him?"

Death smiled "Yes; but to do so you will have to find my scythe, it is located somewhere in the Homelands. That scythe can rip souls from bodies just like Nick can; if you rip out mine and my brother's souls then we can deal with him permanently..."

Bigby perked up in an instant "Ok, so how do I get out of here?"

Death began to slowly fade away into dust "The sea is tainted and so is the Nuckelavee, freshwater is its only weakness now..."

He disappeared and an idea hit Bigby in full force.

He wished as hard as he could and the ground in front of him crumbled and sank several feet deep and began to fill with the purest water whilst rain fell heavily from the sky; Bigby couldn't change form from a human, but his plan would succeed regardless, it had to.

O The Witching Well Chamber, sometime later

"You can all fuck off back to your homes; you know that this won't work!" Nick was being suspended in the air by Totenkinder and was once again being put on trial for Bigby's murder; Snow was at the forefront of it all.

"Why do we have to follow the charter with this fucker; we all saw him kill Bigby so why don't we just throw him down the fucking Well already!?" Grendel was met with a yell of concurrence from everyone else in the chamber.

Snow pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head "Because we unfortunately have to treat everyone with respect when they are in our custody, if I had it my way then this trial wouldn't be happening, but I can't have it my way, so therefore it has to happen..."

In amongst the arguing, Nick had started whistling 'Drunken Sailor' and was slowly lowering to the ground; Totenkinder just looked at him with contempt and spoke "He's broken my spell it seems".

Nick broke out of the handcuffs and casually strolled past the surrounding Fables all the way out of the chamber, whistling as he did so and giving Snow the finger over his shoulder. Grimble followed Nick all the way from the Business Office to the door of his cell, Nick walked in, flopped back onto his bed and shut his eyes as Grimble locked the door and walked away.

Snow and the others dispersed once more; Nick had resorted to simply going back to his cell instead of attacking or insulting everyone when he escaped his trial, no one knew why he didn't just leave the Woodland's but in a way they were thankful for it, it meant that they wouldn't have to re-capture him when the time came.

O Nowhere

Nick landed back in his realm and instantly noticed the rain; he winced in pain as the tiny droplets seemed to burn into his skin a little and he quickly put on his hooded coat to protect himself.

Nick whispered in confusion "What the fuck is this bullshit?"

Nick heard low breathing behind him and turned around cautiously.

Bigby growled as he threw himself at Nick as soon as he turned around and tackled him across the room; Nick didn't bother struggling as he wanted to see what Bigby would do to him, it was the wrong decision to make...

Next time: Bigby escapes a fate worse than death and returns to Fabletown...

So originally this chapter began with 'the Woodland's cells, the day of the funeral' and the new beginning was meant to be in Chapter 21 of the previous Act; but I moved it here to keep up the suspense :)

Also, Greenleaf was meant to explain how Bigby could escape, but I replaced her with Death as nothing I wrote made sense with Greenleaf being the one to help Bigby get out and introducing one of the Horsemen instead was kinda cool imo.